10.02.07 – By Scoop Malinowski: “A nation can survive its fools, and even ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.” –Cicero
Heavyweight contender Samuel Peter is in an unbelievably fantastic position right now. According to boss scribe Michael Marley over at boxingconfidential.com, Peter has been offered, this past week, $2.5 million to step aside and then will be guaranteed $3 million to fight the winner of the proposed May Oleg Maskaev-Vitali Klitschko WBC Heavyweight title showdown, likely in August or September..
Consider that former IBF champ Chris Byrd reportedly earned around $375,000 to defend his title against DaVarryl Williamson two years ago. Peter is being promised 15 times more than that amount – as title challenger!
Team Peter should have signed the deal the milli-second it was offered. We have heard the public boastings of how exciting and powerful Peter is, how bright his future is. They talked the talk, now it’s time to walk the walk.
Samuel Peter himself appears to be confident he can beat Maskaev or Klitschko. The Nigerian Nightmare even recently vowed, in widely reported comments, that he will “knock out both Klitschko brothers.”
But the fighter’s confidence is not always equal to that of his agents. Perhaps Peter’s handlers are not as assured of their man’s chances against Klitschko, who is expected to defeat Maskaev. Peter is now controlled by Ivalyo Gotzev, Dino Duva and Don King (who bought into Peter late last year), a triumvirate which could possibly have enormous apprehensions about putting their heavyweight hope against such a force as Vitali Klitschko.
Let’s look at the big picture here. At this point in time, Don King’s grasp on the heavyweight titles is precarious at best. The 75-year-old Hall of Fame promoter has only one option left on WBA champ Nikolay Valuev. WBO champ Shannon Briggs is in a 50/50 fight next month with mandatory Sultan Ibragimov who is promoted by Golden Boy and Warriors. And minimally deserving IBF mandatory Ray Austin is a longshot at best against champ Wladimir Klitschko. By April or May of this year, King may be down to his final option – Samuel Peter.
Duva and Gotzev remember the ferocious beating their man took at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko. They haven’t forgotten the grotesque mask of pain and swelling of Peter’s face an hour after that fight. They can’t have forgetten Peter’s spaghetti legs after that 12th round Dr. Steelhammer left hook.
Can they now afford to risk to send Peter in there with Dr. Iron Fist next? Can they take that chance, when really they don’t absolutely have to? Would another Peter loss to a Klitschko set him back perhaps two maybe even three years? Would it make the most business sense for Team Peter to target one of the other titles, because Vitali, the more successful of the two Klitschkos, might exacerbate an even worse beating on Peter than Wladimir did.
By the way Team Peter crowed so loudly about the WBC’s approving of Vitali to fight Maskaev, honoring their Champion Emeritus promise of December of 2005, it seems they have some uneasiness about fighting Klitschko or agreeing to this lucrative offer.
King has a history of delaying important unification or “moment of truth” type heavyweight title fights – Lewis-Holyfield I, Lewis-Tyson in the ’90s, Vitali Klitschko unification against Byrd, Ruiz and Brewster.
We shall soon see how truly confident Don King and his cohorts are about Samuel Peter’s chances against Vitali Klitschko (provided he can defeat Oleg Maskaev).
If Team Peter refuses to agree to or accept this bountiful offer, you can surmise only one thing: It will have been 100% a maneuver of extreme discretion rather than valor.
“Boxing is about 90% bluffs.” –former WBO Heavyweight champion Michael Bentt
“I’ll knock out Klitschko” –Roy Jones
“Vitali was the harder brother to fight.” –Chris Byrd
Scoop Malinowski’s book “Lewis vs. Tyson Heavyweight Armageddon: The Inside Story About The Biggest Money Fight in Boxing History” will be published in 2008.